January 19, 2005
Shot at the championship
Local Knights of Columbus holds annual free throw contest
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Stepping into an expectant hush, 12 area youth launched their best shots Saturday morning during a Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship.
Held at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School's gym, the Knights of Columbus Council 9979, based at Christ the King Catholic Church, hosted this event.
Each competitor had three warm ups followed by 15 shots at the basket; the highest score per age category won.
During each participant's turn, complete silence reigned in the gym except for the thwock of the basketball on the court, followed by either the hoped-for swish of it through the hoop or the clang as the ball rebounded.
The free throw style of each participant ranged from low and fast throws to high arching ones. The athletes also exhibited different rituals before each shot, from three low staccato bounces to two leisurely high ones.
In any case, all that mattered was whether the ball went through the hoop.
"I practice free throws anyway," said Aimee Marsh, who won first place in the age 11 category.
"There was a lot of pressure but I just kind of tried to focus," added Marsh, a sixth-grade student in Central's TAG program who played on the Old Mission Peninsula School basketball team.
Despite the pressure, the four boys and eight girls conducted themselves with aplomb - at least on the outside.
"I was shaking, but I just lined up my feet and shot," said Jamie Bott, a seventh- grade student at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School. "It was a fun thing, we all had fun."
Bott played some guard and forward this fall on her school's basketball team. She said that during her free throw round, she tried not to pay attention to the spectators or her score.
"I didn't want to count," she said.
Winners in four age categories each for boys and girls will go on to the district free throw competition, scheduled for January 29 at the St. Francis High School gym. This event will feature the winners from approximately six other Knights of Columbus councils in area. The next step for winners at that event is a regional competition against other youth from around the Diocese of Gaylord.
"This is just to give kids something to do, to give the ones who work hard toward this kind of thing on a daily basis some recognition," said Pete VanBerlo, a trustee of the Knights of Columbus Council 9979.
VanBerlo has helped at the Free Throw Contest for the past six or seven years and said that usually more kids compete. This year, the council placed posters in all of the area elementary schools and junior high schools - public, private and charter - to drum up attendees. Despite this advertising thrust, he believes the severely cold weather kept people home.
"There was good competition Saturday, but I would have liked to see more kids," he said. "We absolutely enjoy putting this on, our kids are our future."